THE GREAT WISDOM OF THE NIGERIAN SENATE: ¨Straights who support a same sex marriage go directly to jail for ten years¨

Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh, Anti-lgbt ¨Great Evil¨ hate law promoter HERE

¨You might consider forwarding this story to your straight friends so they are fully informed because they are now at risk! The massive epidemic of hate against LGBT people continues unchecked in Africa. The latest is Nigeria. In all their wisdom, the Nigerian senate just passed legislation that would send not only their LGBT citizens to prison for marrying BUT also send any straight friends who supported them in their marriage to prison too!!!

Guilt by association in Nigeria

Yep, that is right, there is a new twist happening in some of the homophobic legislation that is being passed. Straights who support a same sex marriage go directly to jail with us for ten years. You read it right. Ten years in jail for witnessing our marraige! Wonder if they will allow us neighboring cells so we can stay in touch?  don´t miss a word of Nigerian wisdom, HERE

·  Thanks to David Mixner, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Washington Post, HERE

A FEAST DAY FOR QUEEN VICTORIAS DEAR FRIENDS: Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV

King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emm´s commemorative stained Glass window at historic St. Andrews Cathedral, The Episcopal Church, Diocese of Hawaii



Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV's baptism into the Anglican Church, in 1862, at St. Andrew's Cathedral. This was there second baptism since they were baptize in their childhood in the Calvinist faith. HERE

Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, his queen consort, were devout members of the Church of England led by their good friend Victoria of the United Kingdom. At their request, Thomas Nettleship Staley was appointed bishop in 1862. Inspired to build a place of worship in the Anglican tradition, Kamehameha IV commissioned the construction of what would later become the Cathedral of Saint Andrew. However, the king died on the feast day of Saint Andrew in 1863 before ground-breaking. Kamehameha V, the king's brother, took over the project and laid the cornerstone in honor of his predecessor on March 5, 1867.


St. Andrews Cathedral, diocese of Hawaii, The Episcopal Church

The Cathedral of Saint Andrew was built in the French Gothic architectural style, shipped in several pre-fabricated pieces from England. The western facade has a window of hand-blown stained glass that reaches from the floor to the eaves, depicting the European explorers that visited the Hawaiian islands. HERE


·  Thanks to Padre Mickey´s Dance Party, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Daily Office, sidebar

THE REIGN IN SPAIN: “very happy with a Spain that respects human rights and that considers all its citizens equal.”

Princess Litizia of Asturias

Letizia, the Princess of Asturias, an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, on Wednesday said she supports gay marriage, Chilean daily La Tercera reported.

During their first official trip to Chile, Letizia and her husband, Prince Felipe de Borbon, visited Santiago's Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) to inaugurate an exhibit of works by Spanish photographer Chema Madoz.

The couple were accompanied by Cecilia Morel, the First Lady of Chile, who introduced the pair to Chilean writer Paul Simonetti, who also heads the gay rights group Equal Foundation.

Simonetti asked the princess, the heir apparent to the Spanish throne, her thoughts on marriage equality.

She answered that she was “very happy with a Spain that respects human rights and that considers all its citizens equal.” HERE

·  Thanks to Princess Letizia, España
·  Thanks to Paul Simonetti, Equal Foundation, Chile
·  Thanks to On Top Magazine, sidebar

THE FIGHT FOR DIGNITY, EQUALITY, FREEDOM and JUSTICE: ¨Zimbabweans, as a people need right now, a concerted popular effort to demand human dignity...¨

ZIMBABWE RIGHT NOW: ¨...we use candles for light and firewood for cooking...¨

“Where after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home-so close and so small that they can not be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the nighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world” Eleanor Roosevelt on the Universal declaration of human rights

¨This quote speaks to the essence of what Zimbabweans, as a people need right now, a concerted popular effort to demand human dignity and all that comes with it. We need food on our tables; decent wages and employment; a good education for our children; proper healthcare including affordable medication when we need it; roofs over our heads; reliable electricity supply; running and clean water; and proper working sewer systems.¨

¨These are things we should be demanding to see in a new constitution and as Eleanor Roosevelt said, without concerted citizen action, as Zimbabweans we will continue to look to ‘donors’ to assist us, yet we could solve our problems ourselves.¨ HERE

·  Thanks to Black Looks, sidebar
·  Thanks to by Rumbidzai Dube
·  Thanks to Eleanor Roosevelt

EPISCOPALIAN/ANGLICAN NOTABLE CITIZEN: Elizabeth Bell ¨Orden Diego de Porres¨ Award

Elizabeth Bell, Historian, Author, Brilliant Person, Friend!
Antigua Tours, HERE



 

WELCOME HOME: The Christ Episcopal Church in Savannah Georgia belongs to TEC and not the Anglican Church of Uganda

Breaking: Ga. Supreme Court says Christ, Savannah belongs to TEC

¨In a 5-1 decision, the Georgia Supreme Court this morning decided that Christ Episcopal Church in Savannah belonged to to the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia, not a breakaway faction aligned with the Anglican Church of Uganda...¨ please read it all, By Jim Naughton HERE (Read the opinion.)

A WORD OF CAUTION From Wounded Bird/Grandmere Mimi:

¨The Episcopal Church is not a congregational church. Anyone is free to leave but not with the property. Are you watching Bp. Mark Lawrence of the Diocese of South Carolina? Are you, as a bishop of the Episcopal Church, permitted to give away what is not yours? Of course, certain folks in the diocese may believe theirs is a special case. We shall see...¨  HERE

Georgia high court sides with national Episcopal Church in property spat with Savannah congregation

¨Georgia's highest court has sided with the national Episcopal Church in a property dispute with the oldest church in Georgia.


The Georgia Supreme Court voted six to one to uphold a lower court's October 2009 ruling confirming the national Episcopal Church's claim to historic Christ Church in Savannah.

The dispute arose after members of the local congregation decided in 2007 to leave the Episcopal Church, which they said was straying from Biblical teachings. After the split, the Georgia diocese and the national church claimed ownership of the church building...¨ HERE

BACKGROUND to ¨Christ Church¨ Property Dispute: ¨I must protest this unwarranted incursion into The Episcopal Church. I am concerned that you seem to feel it appropriate to visit, preach, and exercise episcopal ministry within the territory of this Church, and I wonder how you would receive similar behavior in Uganda...¨ Presiding Bishop Kathrine Jefferts Schori, Primate, The Episcopal Church

May 12, 2008

FROM: Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori
Primate, The Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion.

TO: The Most Revd Henry Luke Orombi Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala PO Box 14123 Kampala, Uganda, East Africa

¨My dear brother,

I understand from advertising here that you plan to visit a congregation in the Diocese of Georgia on 14 May of this year. The diocesan, Bishop Henry Louttit, has not given any invitation for you to do so, nor received any information from you about your planned visit. I must protest this unwarranted incursion into The Episcopal Church. I am concerned that you seem to feel it appropriate to visit, preach, and exercise episcopal ministry within the territory of this Church, and I wonder how you would receive similar behavior in Uganda. These actions violate the spirit and letter of the work of the Windsor Report, and only lead to heightened tensions. We are more than willing to receive you for conversation, dialogue, and reconciliation, yet you continue to act without speaking with us. I hope and pray that you might respond to our invitation and meet with representatives of this Church.

I remain

Your servant in Christ,
Katharine Jefferts Schori¨

Please read the reply from Archbishop Henry Orombi/Uganda which includes: ¨ I am not visiting a church in the Diocese of Georgia. I am visiting a congregation that is part of the Church of Uganda. Were I to visit a congregation within TEC, I would certainly observe the courtesy of contacting the local bishop. Since, however, I am visiting a congregation that is part of the Church of Uganda, I feel very free to visit them and encourage them through the Word of God...¨ HERE )

·  Thanks to Episcopal Cafe, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Supreme Court of Georgia, HERE
·  Thanks to Jim Naughton, The Lead HERE
·  Thanks to Wounded Bird, sidebar HERE
·  Thanks to Three Rivers Episcopal, sidebar HERE

Thanksgiving, The Spirit of Iximche: In Spanish and Kaqchikel -- Thanking Mother Earth for her bounty

I often visit Maya ruins in Central America. One of my favorite ancient places is Iximche...Iximche isn't a huge city but it is heavy with Kaqchikel lore (and key Spanish Colonial History)and thick with modest ruins of gorgeous temples, grassy gaming fields and sacred ceremonial countryside sort of place....Iximche doesn't get a lot of tourists dropping in as do Copan, Vera Cruz or Tikal...Iximche is my kind of a quiet and mysterious, close-to-the-earth kinda of a whafting spirit of a Holy place.

The first time I went to Iximche was with my friend Jose Luis A.R. and that was over two decades ago...we were the only visitors and we strolled around in the early morning misty sacred space of a place and I felt I had been there before...a long time before.

A few years ago when sharing Iximche with Juan Carlos (we visit Iximche often) and visitor from the United States we also were quite alone but the sacred space seemed filled with uplifting spirituality, almost brimming with quiet conviviality...we hiked around and we came upon my favorite part...the place where the Shaman perform their purifying rites.

Out of nowhere, literally from the forest, a Shaman (similar to the gentlemen in the painting above/artist unknown) appeared. He ignored my friend Juan Carlos C.F. and I as an associate of his stood not far away on a little hill as a sort of traditional guard/scout (I think)...anyway the fire started, the Shaman wraped his headscarf around his head, said a prayer and crossed himself to the "Father, Son and Holy Ghost" as he knelt down...chanting, Spanish and Kaqchikel, thanking Mother Earth for her bounty and as the ritual continued he added libations and offerings of flowers, candles, sweets, meats, alcohol, eggs with shell, and lots and lots of dry herbs...all the time thanking God and thanking Mother Earth that had blessed us all with our being.

I moved closer and the Shaman invited me to join him, on my knees by the fire...I did (my friends moved further back on a neighboring knoll)...as he continued his chanting and prayers of thanksgiving a swarm of bees came to our fire...many bees, maybe dozens of bees (but I don't want to turn this into a "fish" story)....the bees in multiples started landing on my outstretched bare arms...he told me not to worry the bees had come to offer a fine blessing to me...a blessing from Mother Earth personally so I closed my eyes and opened my heart and received it willingly...¨ Thanksgiving before and now, Leonardo Ricardo HERE

· The Bees blessed me.
· The Bees didn't sting me.
· The Bees flew away.
· Thanks be to God/Mother Earth
· Thanks be to the depths of Reality
· Thanks be to the seen and unseen

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT UPDATE: Birmingham diocese, Church of England, rejects Anglican Covenant

St. Philips Cathedral, Church of England, Birmingham, England

The Diocese of Birmingham voted today on the Anglican Covenant, and rejected it.

According to our correspondent, the voting was:

Bishops 1 for. (Suffragan bishop absent).

Clergy 17 for, 17 against, 1 abstention.

Laity 12 for, 25 against, 1 abstention.

·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, HERE

SONG OF THE WALL STREET GOONS: All Hail To The Grand Old Predators, Exploiters, Greedsters, Bigotted Presidential Candidates and/or GOP Congressional Doubletalking Thieves!

¨GREAT EVIL¨ -- ANTI-LGBT HATE PROMOTED IN NIGERIA: “...insidious bill that appears to be limited to same-gender marriage, but is actually an attack on basic rights”

The Primate, Church of Nigeria, the Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh, has described the practice of homosexuality, lesbianism and gay marriage as great evils that must neither be condoned nor allowed to further exist in our society. HERE

Anglican Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Nigeria

“The church has zero tolerance for homosexuality. The only time they will accept someone being homosexual is if they come to ‘confess’ and ‘repent’ of it, to say they are cured so they can be forgiven.”  Damian Ugwu, Social Justice Advocacy Initiative.

¨Homosexual and lesbian practices are considered offensive to public morality in Nigeria.¨

¨Rights groups in Nigeria fear a same-sex marriage bill being discussed in parliament could boost already prevalent discrimination against homosexuals. The bill goes much further than banning same-sex marriage; it threatens to ban the formation of groups supporting homosexuality, with imprisonment for anyone who “witnesses, abet[s] or aids” same-gender relationships, and could lead to any discussion or activities related to gay rights being banned.

Under a colonial-era law, sodomy is punishable by a 14-year jail sentence; and in the country’s mainly Muslim northern states, where a version of Shar’ia law applies, the penalty is death by stoning, although this has never officially been carried out.

The National Assembly began debating the latest version of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill in November. Most high-ranking officials have voiced their approval of the bill, signalling it is likely to pass....¨ HERE

·  Thanks to Damian Ugwu
·  Thanks to Social Justice Advocacy Initiative
·  Thanks to Paul Canning
·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar
·  Thanks to Human Rights Watch
·  Thanks to Graeme Reid
·  Thanks to Changing Attitude, Nigeria

NOTE: Changing Attitude, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, will campaign against the prohibition of marriage between persons of the same sex bill recently introduced in the Senate of Nigeria. HERE

¨Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN) deplores the introduction of “A bill for an act to prohibition marriage between persons of same sex, solemnisation of same and for other matters related therewith” in the Nigerian Parliament.

The Bill will have an immediate negative effect, raising prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Nigeria and further demonizing us. Tens of thousands of LGBT will feel more vulnerable as a result. It is likely to lead to outbreaks of persecution and violence against people identified as lesbian and gay and will incite people to hate crimes. It will destroy the self esteem of LGBT people making many of us think less of ourselves and will lead to rejection in our homes, churches, schools and place of work...¨ read it all, HERE

I spent sixteen years as a fundamental evangelical Christian, trying to get God to fix me: ¨I was really at the point where I was either going to be a gay woman, or a dead woman¨

‘They publicly prayed for my death’

By John Shore

[Here is one of the thirty letters from gay and lesbian Christians included in Wings on a Pig: Why the "Christian" View of Gays Doesn't Work, now available as a Kindle book and a NookBook.* I wanted to collect and present these stories, because I knew that -- especially in the aggregate -- they would obliterate the notion that one cannot be both gay and Christian. And if it's possible to be both entirely gay and entirely Christian, then the whole argument that God condemns homosexuality necessarily starts breaking apart. This is one of the thirty hammer blows in "Wings" that contributes to that demolition. And it certainly shows the anti-gay sentiment in our churches, in all of its ghastly, dysfunctional splendor. But more than that, it shows what one person, who refuses to be beaten by ignorance and bigotry, can do, just by keeping their vision focused not on hatred, but on love.]

¨I spent sixteen years as a fundamental evangelical Christian, trying to get God to fix me. I studied theology and Biblical counseling for three years in the hopes of discovering what I was doing wrong that was keeping God from answering my prayers to make me straight. I struggled with the guilt of same-sex attraction every day, and had no way of turning it off.

I was so despondent over my situation that I felt suicidal. I knew what was in store for me if I came out, but I was really at the point where I was either going to be a gay woman, or a dead woman. Thinking about my two beautiful children, I knew that they would prefer a gay mom. So I did what I had to do. I just had no idea how bad it would get before it started to get better.

I came out to my fundamental evangelical husband almost four years ago. Initially, he was loving and kind. However, the church knew something was wrong–and when he told them what it was, I never had another civil conversation with him. He came home from a meeting with the pastors, and announced that the church was starting “Biblical discipline proceedings” (construed from Matthew 18) against me, and that the elders of the church would be contacting me...¨ please read it all, it´s important to expose the dominionistlike ¨Biblical discipline¨ insanity, HERE

·  Thanks to Wings on a Pig: Why the "Christian" View of Gays Doesn't Work
·  Thanks to John Shore
·  Thanks to LGBTQ Nation, sidebar
·  Thanks to Views and Voices, HERE

HERE

BEING A PEDOPHILE HAS ZERO TO DO WITH BEING GAY*: ¨The vast majority of men who abuse boys are either not attracted to adults of either gender or are straight men who are emotionally disturbed¨

¨Stop letting the real abusers keep hiding in the darkness...and continue their abuse¨

¨For a few weeks now, the Religious Right has been shamelessly co-opting the Penn State child rape tragedies to spark further hatred of the gay community.

As discussed here last week, one organization went so far as to raise money with their incoherent linking of being gay to the Penn State incidents.

Well, I’ve had enough. After reading an utterly embarrassing piece of writing in the DC morning ‘Examiner‘  Penn States Shame and Ours which grasped at straws by trying to link the relationship of Kurt and Blaine on ‘Glee’ to Penn State, I cannot stay quiet about it. And tonight, I discovered an equally horrific piece at World Net Daily The lavender revolution stumbles which continues along the ridiculous and completely unsubstantiated link between being gay and being a pedophile. HERE

Dr. Carole Jenny of Denver Children’s Hospital put together an exhaustive study Are Children at Risk for Sexual Abuse by Homosexuals? on this very topic. She took 352 children who were referred to a clinic for potential sexual abuse. 35 of these children were ruled out of the study as abuse seemed unlikely in these cases.

Of the remaining 317 cases…

◦74 children were abused by other children or teens under the age of 18.
◦9 children could not identify their abuser.
◦2 children were abused by someone identified as gay or lesbian.
◦232 children were sexually abused by the heterosexual partner of a close relative.

And if you’d like to discuss gay men, the usual target of lies perpetrated by the Religious Right, the same doctor did a study of 50 boys who had been molested.

Of those 50 boys…

◦37 were abused by a man in a straight relationship with a relative.
◦3 were molested by their mother or grandmother.
◦5 were molested by both parents.
◦3 were molested by a male family friend who had no history of sex with men.
◦1 was molested by an uncle, also with no history of sex with men.
◦1 was molested by a man who was possibly, but not definitely a gay man.
 
“When our opponents demonize openly gay men and falsely shine the spotlight on us, they’re letting the real abusers hide in the darkness…and continue their abuse.” Rob Tisinai HERE

·  Thanks to Rob Tisinai, sidebar
·  Thanks to Talk About Equality, HERE
·  Thanks to Dr. Carole Jenny, Denver Childrens Hospital
·  Thanks to Waking Up Now, sidebar
·  Thanks to The New Civil Rights Movement, sidebar

*Homosexuality is an innate trait fixed at birth, while pedophilia is a psychological disorder. HERE

ANGLICAN BISHOP CHRISTOPHER SSENYONJO/UGANDA: '...I know that God loves you. Because God has created you different it doesn't mean that he doesn't love you.'

Anglican Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo, St. Pauls Foundation, Kampala, Uganda

¨Bishop Christopher Senyonjo is an advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights at a time when Uganda's Parliament has reopened discussion on a bill which would penalize gays and lesbians with prison sentences and even capital punishment. The bill would also criminalize "promoting" homosexuality and protecting the identities of homosexuals.

Senyonjo first began counseling gays and lesbians and lobbying for their rights in Uganda in 1998. Guided in his activism by his understanding of human sexuality, and a firm conviction that God does not discriminate, he has endured personal attacks on his character and on his faith while fighting against the misinformation and hate speech surrounding the African LGBT experience...¨

¨It has been not easy for me; I have suffered. My church didn't like my approach so they make it very hard for me.¨ Bishop Christopher

¨In 2001 I started counseling LGBT people when I retired as the assistant bishop of the Anglican Church in Uganda. I began getting involved with LGBT and marginalized people in 1998 when some young men came to me, rejected by their family, by their peers. They were rejected by the schools as if they were not human beings.

One young person who was working with them, a youth worker, introduced them to me. He said these people are so rejected, what can you do? And he knew about what I was doing as a counselor. I listened to their stories, these young people, and of course I discovered that they were gay.

For being gay they were hated, even being told that God did not love them, which was really terrible because some of them were even contemplating suicide because of that kind of rejection. If people say, 'Even God doesn't love you unless you change', the message they hear from the church is: 'Change your sexuality if you are to be loved even by God.'

I did some courses on human sexuality and marriage in my doctoral program, so I could understand. I said, 'No. I believe God loves you. I am a bishop. I know that God loves you. Because God has created you different it doesn't mean that he doesn't love you.'

So they took heart when they heard this. They are alive today but I have known many who have committed suicide...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to All Africa, sidebar
·  Thanks to Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo, Uganda
·  Thanks to The St. Pauls Foundation, Kampala

HERE

THE ´PUNATIVE´ ANGLICAN COVENANT ACCORDING TO ++DREXEL GOMEZ: ¨Warnings and intentions¨

Archbishop Drexel Gomez, retired, remains ¨available if needed¨ to rework and strengthen the Anglican Communion Covenant for the Gafcon/Global South schismatics

A covenant mandated ´house cleaning´ at the Anglican Family?

“...in many families, you remain in the family but you can’t stay in the house because your presence in the home is a bad example to other young people, and so you are forced to move out because what you are doing is an offense to the integrity of the family.” 

Drexel Gomex, cochairman (along with now promoted to Bishop, Gregory Cameron) of the Anglican Covenant Design Group

¨In the most recent St. Andrews Draft of the covenant, provinces would pledge to uphold historic Christian faith inherited by Anglicanism and to promote and proclaim the Biblically-based Gospel through mission.

Signers of the covenant, Gomez explained, are called on to pledge themselves to the understanding that the Anglican Communion requires mutual accountability among provinces and that the constitutional autonomy of provinces exists within a larger framework of communion that sets limits on that autonomy.

The covenant also would provide a mechanism or process by which provinces, once they have signed the covenant, could be determined to have violated the covenant and, thus, to be deemed to have removed themselves from the Communion...¨ don´t miss a word, HERE

LIVE FREE OR DIE: ¨Where now comes the threat to our liberty? You need look no further than Lambeth Palace¨

By Lay Anglicana

¨Where now comes the threat to our liberty? You need look no further than Lambeth Palace (see previous post on ‘Countdown to the Chains of the Anglican Covenant’HERE

So what if the intention is not the enslavement of Anglicans around the world to the ‘Instruments of Communion’? – do you not think that this phrase has chillingly Orwellian tones? – our enslavement is what will be the result. The post-Covenant character of Anglicanism will be a totalitarian régime which seeks, not episcopal oversight, but archiepiscopal and episcopal thought control. If you think I am exaggerating, I invite you to look at the documents produced by the lobby in favour of the Covenant and then re-read the Newspeak of 1984,  please read it all,  HERE.

HERE

LIVE FREE OR DIE: ¨Where now comes the threat to our liberty? You need look no further than Lambeth Palace¨ Lay Anglicana

¨The phrase ‘Live Free or Die‘ has a history dating back at least to the Enlightenment, but my favourite use of it is on the licence plates for the state of New Hampshire...¨

¨Where now comes the threat to our liberty? You need look no further than Lambeth Palace (see previous post on ‘Countdown to the Chains of the Anglican Covenant’ HERE  ). So what if the intention is not the enslavement of Anglicans around the world to the ‘Instruments of Communion’? – do you not think that this phrase has chillingly Orwellian tones? – our enslavement is what will be the result. The post-Covenant character of Anglicanism will be a totalitarian régime which seeks, not episcopal oversight, but archiepiscopal and episcopal thought control. If you think I am exaggerating, I invite you to look at the documents produced by the lobby in favour of the Covenant and then re-read the Newspeak of 1984 HERE.

Anglicanism has always offered its adherents a faith less concerned with the minutiae of doctrine (holding such debate up to ridicule by characterising it as the discussion of how many angels could fit on the head of a pin) than how to lead a Christian life, informed by the creeds and 39 Articles and inspired by Hooker’s scripture, tradition and reason. The Covenant takes 5,123 words to describe future doctrine, which will be enforced by the Instruments of Communion, rather than individual conscience which has sufficed in the past...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Lay Anglicana, sidebar
·  Thanks to Wikipedia HERE

HERE

The Republican Party must be put out of its misery: ¨Most of the current Republican presidential field is not merely playing to this base, it is of it.¨

¨...while the Republican financial base continues to be those extremely wealthy who lack all conscience, its voting base now is the ignorant and the reality challenged.¨

¨...The embarrassment of embarrasments that is the Republican presidential field ought to be the final proof that the Republican Party has ceased to serve any valuable role in our political system. The lunatics have taken over. The Republican rejection of science and rationality once served various tactical purposes, but in previous generations it always was a feint to the theocrats whose primary political purpose for the Republicans was to enable the kleptocrats and the neo-Royalists. But while the Republican financial base continues to be those extremely wealthy who lack all conscience, its voting base now is the ignorant and the reality challenged. Most of the current Republican presidential field is not merely playing to this base, it is of it. No serious person can look at Herman Cain or Rick Perry or Ron Paul or Michele Bachmann or Rick Santorum and see a future president. In a less surreal world these would be but cartoon characters. And yet one of them or someone equally absurd still may become the Republican presidential nominee. The base of the party desperately hopes so...¨ The Republican Partys time has come and gone, HERE

·  Thanks to Daily Kos, sidebar

IN SEARCH OF BASIC DECENCY AND GOODNESS? ¨It´s not complicated but it takes courage¨

Pablo Casals performs at the Kennedy White House HERE

¨Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.¨  Pablo Casals


·  Thanks to Pablo Casals
·   Thanks to The History Place

HERE

ESCAPING THE CHAINS THAT BIND US: ¨A nightmare* scenario is unfolding in England, home of the Anglican Communion¨

¨unmistakable signs of rebellion¨...escaping from the ¨Anglican Covenant¨ chains

¨If the (well-intentioned) Archbishop of Canterbury were to have his way, the Anglican Covenant would, over the next few years, encircle the globe in chains.

However, there are unmistakable signs of rebellion, and it is beginning to look as if the select – extremely select – group of signatories to the Covenant would fit on the head of a pin, leaving the great majority of Anglican Communion Provinces outside the inner circle of ‘true believers’.

Dr. Rowan Williams insisting on pledges from truest of believers?

In these circumstances, you might think the obvious course is to tear up the Covenant, while admitting that any document of 5,123 words and eleven A4 pages is unworkable as a worldwide definition of Anglicanism, quite apart from several unpalatable clauses in the small print. But what may be obvious to you and me appears not to be obvious to the powers that be...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Lay Anglicana, sidebar
·  Thanks to The No Anglican Covenant Coalition, sidebar

ANGLICAN DAVID KATO MURDERER FOUND GUILTY IN UGANDA: Sidney Nsubuga Enoch convicted of self-styled ¨gay defense¨ brutal ¨head bashing¨

Defenseless ¨Gay¨ Defense:  Sidney Nsubuga Enoch aledgedly killed David Kato by bludgeoning him to death with a hammer to ward off sexual advances! 

NOT SO FAST -- U.S. EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS PROMOTED HOMOPHOBIA AND STOKED ANTI-GAY FEARS IN UGANDA! ¨Quit Exporting Hatred to Uganda¨, HERE

Ugandan LGBT Activist, Frank Mugisha to receive the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in Washington today
  HERE

Frank Mugisha blames U.S. evangelical activists in particular for stoking fears and promoting homophobia with a 2009 visit and conference on "rehabilitation" for gays in Uganda. Since then, violence against gays has increased, read it all, HERE

Anglican, Integrity Uganda member, David Kato, bludgeoned to death by Sidney Nsubuga Enoch

Murderer of Ugandan Gay Rights Activist David Kato Gets 30 Years

¨Sidney Nsubuga Enoch, 22, committed the crime after Kato repeatedly made sexual advances him, according to the prosecution evidence. The body of the deceased was discovered in a house by one Kizza Akram, who had earlier left the duo together.

The hunt for Nsubuga culminated in his arrest when he was spotted by residents in Mukono district, who alerted the police. He was arrested after which he admitted to the murder charges brought against him...¨ HERE

Accomplice to generating anti-LGBT exclusion and fear/hate in Uganda, Anglican ¨Gafconning¨ Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi ¨The Two Faces of Grace¨, HERE  

·  Thanks to The African Review
·  Thanks to Towleroad, sidebar
·  Thanks to Frank Mugishia, Uganda
·  Thanks to Robert F. Kennedy Award, UPDATE HERE,

KRISTALLNACHT ANNIVERSARY: Jews, Gypsies, Gay Men, Dissenters and ¨Undesirables¨ persecuted! UPDATE -- ¨Gays¨ called ¨Nazi´s¨ in Church of England Newspaper*

Interior of Berlin's Fasanenstrasse Synagogue, opened in 1912, after it was set on fire during Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938. It was destroyed entirely during an Allied air raid on Berlin in 1943, and a Jewish Community Center was opened in its place in 1959

ATTENTION BIGOTS (religious or not), COWARDS, EXPLOITERS, GREEDSTERS:  NEVER AGAIN!

The Holocaust began on the night of 9-10 November 1938 when under the coordination of the Nazi government "kristallnacht" (the night of broken glass) took place in which Jewish homes, businesses, schools, synagogues, and cemeteries were burned or otherwise destroyed. Thousands of Jewish people across Germany were killed or maimed - and no one in the world complained! Over the course of the next 7 years 6,000,000 Jews were killed . . . and another 6,000,000 people, including Communists and other political dissenters, gypsies, gay men, certain Roman Catholic priests and nuns, and "undesirables" (such as the mentally deficient, epileptics, and the elderly poor) were also put to death during that time."

BEWARE OF HOLOCAUST REVISIONISTS AND SINISTER ¨GLOBAL SOUTH¨ RELIGIOUS LEADERS AS THEY DEMONIZE FELLOW ANGLICANS AND OTHERS IN UGANDA, NIGERIA, JAMAICA, ENGLAND and THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA! 
HERE

Anglican African Bishops and Gafcon ¨schismatics¨ are joined in worship by the Archbishop of Canterbury as they choose the side of ¨injustice¨ and  deadly ¨oppression¨  meeting at the ¨Liars Club¨ in Entebbe, Uganda HERE

UPDATE: UK religious, political leader calls gay rights Advocates ‘gaystapo’

Alan Craig, UK religious, political leader

“Given the horrific circumstances of the Holocaust, it is deeply disturbing and highly offensive that the Church of England Newspaper* has chosen to compare supporters of equality with Nazis,” said Ben Summerskill, Chief Executive of the equality rights charity Stonewall UK. HERE

Attention Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

¨If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor¨  Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate

· Thanks to Rocky Jones, Oklahoma
· Thanks to Wikipedia, photo
· Thanks to LGBTQ Nation, sidebar
· Thanks to The Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate
· Thanks to Bob Summerskill, Stonewall, U.K.
· Thanks to Mad Priest, OCICBW Blog:

*NOT MY CHURCH OF ENGLAND

The "Church of England Newspaper" has absolutely nothing to do with the official Church of England and is about as Anglican as ACNA (in other words, not at all). It has a very low weekly circulation compared to "The Church Times," equal to just a third of the "unique" vistors who visit OCICBW.... This is good because it is a nasty little rag...¨ HERE

AYUDA! ESCAPING ENDLESS ABUSE: ¨...that policeman as he beat and raped me, saying “be a man, you f***ing faggot, be a man!”

¨My name is Juan and I was born in 1976 in San Salvador, El Salvador. My life growing up was horrible. I was sexually, physically and verbally abused my entire life due to my sexual orientation.

My mother worked as a maid. She was raped by her employer. When she got pregnant, she had to leave her job and go live with her parents. For that reason, I do not believe that my mother ever loved me...¨

Endless abuse

¨...My mother was an alcoholic and beat me constantly. She was embarrassed because the neighbor children called me a faggot.

She would beat me with her hands or with her belt. Sometimes she would hit me on the head or on the back. Sometimes she would grab pieces of wood to hit me on the legs with them...¨

Abandoned by mother

¨...My mother was so embarrassed and angry that finally, when I was 13, she just left. She left me and my two younger sisters to be raised by my grandparents. One day she was there and the next day she wasn’t. We didn’t hear from her for many years.

For money, I carried water because no one had running water in their homes. It was my grandmother’s business, but I did the work. The water source was about 10 minutes from my home.

A man named Jose from our neighborhood told me he would pay for my service, but the day that I went to deliver the first bucket he made me take it inside his house. He then pushed me against a wall holding a knife and raped me...¨

Bullied

When I started high school, I had to live through another nightmare. I was terrible at sports and the machista teacher had it in for me in physical education class. I flunked a test and shouted in front of the kids, “You f***ing faggot, you are useless.” The other students were brutal to me, too.

From high school I went to the university but I was terribly abused there. Students told me to leave because they didn’t want faggots there.

So I left the university and looked for work. I found a job at a bank. Things seemed better, I was earning money and I was determined to make something of myself...¨

¨I´m going to make you mine¨

¨...One day, the security guard pushed me into a bathroom staff with a gun in his hand. Once again, I was raped. I remember the horror as he ran the gun up and down my face. I know that I couldn’t speak to my boss because I knew she was homophobic. Eventually I transferred and the torment stopped.

Not alone

¨...At the new bank branch, I met another gay man and it was through him that I met other gay people. We were all afraid of being mistreated and raped because we were gay. As sad as it was to hear their stories, I knew I wasn’t alone...¨

The worst thing happened

¨...Just when I thought I could finally survive, the worst event in my life happened. In September 2009, a friend and I headed to a gay club in a remote area around 11:30 pm. The police stopped us. There were three officers in the car.

That night, for no particular reason, I was tortured yet again. I can still remember that policeman as he beat and raped me, saying “be a man, you f***ing faggot, be a man!”

I was terribly beaten with his club and can still remember the pain. My body hurt all over. My face, my stomach and my anus hurt terribly. I can still hear the other policemen who were watching, laughing and jeering. The pain was like none other I had ever experienced...¨

I went to the police for help

¨...I left shaken, but felt proud that I had tried to help change things in El Salvador. However, the very next day, the policeman who raped me came to my door. “Open up!” he said. “We already know who you are and we are going to kill you!”

I was told then by the only organization in El Salvador run by William Hernandez that helps gay people, that my only solution was to leave the country. So I did. I left behind my job, my home, my belongings, my studies. Two friends helped me get out...¨

Fleeing to America

¨...I came to California and stayed with some relatives, but soon, after realizing that I was gay, they began to abuse me, too. They finally kicked me out, and I was homeless.

Finally, on the Internet, I found the website of the LGBT Asylum Support Task Force. I sent a desperate email for help. In the subject line it only said, AYUDA...¨

Finding help in Riverside, Cal.

¨...So, Pastor Judy found a United Church of Christ church in Riverside, Calif., and sent Pastor Jane Quad a cell phone to give me. She sent an email to me with the address of the church and the times that Rev. Jane could talk to me. I was finally able to talk to someone who spoke Spanish in the Lutheran Social Service office in Worchester. They helped me find NCLR in San Francisco where they help LGBT asylum seekers...¨ please read it all, HERE  (shortened version/posted and edited down by Leonardo Ricardo)

How to help

LGBT Asylum Support Task Force HERE, based in Worcester, Mass., provides financial and social support to LGBT persons seeking political asylum in the United States, while educating people about the treatment of LGBT persons worldwide in an effort to make it safe for all people. The task force welcomes charitable contributions for their life-saving work, which is resourced and/or supported in part by Lutheran Social Services, the E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and other sources. Financial gifts can be mailed to: Hadwen Park Church, LGBT Fund, 6 Clover St., Worcester, MA 01603. To contact the Rev. Judith K. Hanlon, send email to gracelift@aol.com.

·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar
·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum Support Task Force, HERE
·  Thanks to Ken Williams
·  Thanks to William Hernandez

Divine Providence/Divina Providencia and/or Practical Promises needed in Guatemala--UPDATE--GENERAL PEREZ MOLINA WINS!

General Otto Perez Molina, ¨Mano Dura¨

TODAY IS ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY IN GUATEMALA (which is a very beautiful country) AND IT´S ALSO THE DAY IN GUATEMALA FOR A RUN-OFF ELECTION BETWEEN THE TWO REMAINING CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT, Dr. Manuel Antonio Baldizón Méndez and retired General Otto Pérez Molina.

Guatemala is a country that is desperate for strong ¨executive¨ leadership as the current government and it´s agencies/accomplices has had a near complete melt down and lawlessness and corruption are running rampant as well as a ¨worker slowdown¨ within Government that is a disgrace (and these government workers are getting paid well in a economy where many outsiders have no jobs at all)!

Retired General Otto Pérez Molina promises ¨Mano Dura¨ (a hard hand) if elected today--potential support amongst many folk in the campo (and amongst the wealthy old families in Guatemala City) make his election look possible...we will see...often in Guatemala ¨things¨ aren´t what they seem to be but a ¨hard hand¨ is urgently needed to heal ¨hard times.¨

Otto Pérez Molina

El general retirado Otto Pérez Molina, candidato del derechista Partido Patriota (PP), de ganar las elecciones de este domingo se convertiría en el primer Presidente militar de Guatemala desde que se instauró la era democrática, en 1986.

Pérez Molina, quien ofrece gobernar con mano dura este país, que apenas hace 11 años concluyó una sangrienta guerra civil.
 
Manuel Antonio Baldizón Méndez

Dr. Manuel Antonio Baldizón Méndez, ¨Bono 15¨ 

Manuel Antonio Baldizón Méndez (born 6 May 1970) is a Guatemalan politician, lawyer, and hotel entrepreneur. He is the leader of the Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER) party, and a candidate in the 2011 presidential election.
 
Diputado del Congreso. Fue elegido miembro del Congreso de Guatemala por el Partido Avanzada Nacional (PAN) en 2003, pero se unió a la Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) de Álvaro Colom en el año 2006. Baldizón fue reelegido como miembro del Congreso en 2007. En el 2008 se desintegró del partido UNE y fundó el partido LIDER.

ALL IS QUIET AT THE MOMENT -- RESULTS EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT!